Books Purchased: 2

Books DNF: 1

Title: All’s Well That Ends WellAuthor: William ShakespeareDate Added: September 15, 2017Date Started: January 26, 2018Date DNF: March 2, 2018Reading Duration: 35 days

Media: eBook/Kindle

Shelved. Too many books to read to spend time on one that doesn’t interest me, even if it is by The Bard. He has numerous other plays that I’ve enjoyed, and I’m sure I’ll find more as I continue to go through.

I was impressed that this wasn’t the standard fairy tale retelling as in doing nothing to combat the typical “prince rescues princess” story. The two main characters were much more of a team instead of Kayla being dependent on Rane for protection. In quite a few cases it was the other way around, and the princess actually succeeded in completing tasks the (non-prince) woodsman fell short on. Both major characters were flawed and complex, though it was a bit difficult to keep track of some of the minor ones. I didn’t care that much about the romance between them, and the author could’ve done a bit more in the chemistry department, but the action of the story and the obstacles standing in Kayla and Rane’s way were more than enough to make this a pleasant read. I added the next book The Silver Pear to my TBR list, as well.

This showcases the author’s exquisite and eloquent writing style. Opal wasn’t really one of my favorite characters (I didn’t even remember who she was until I started reading), but her way of thinking/speaking was not only quaint, it forced you to figure out what was going on due to its simplicity and misunderstanding of all the details of the “animal world.” At $0.99, it’s well worth the read if you enjoyed The Raven Cycle. It’s quick enough that my minor issues with it didn’t have enough to maturate and irritate me.

Currently Reading: 3

This story is really promising. The main character works in an oddity’s shop; she wants to go to school in London to be a writer, but familial obligation currently keeps her where she is. I’m sure something is about to change very soon since status quo never remains the same in a good story.

I’ve finally given this another chance. My husband gave it to me for Christmas around five years ago, and I tried to get into it but couldn’t. Something about the more sci-fi oriented writing turned me off. At the time I was more used to fantasy eloquence, but in the interim, I’ve read a bit more sci-fi (though Dune is much more science fantasy, which tbh should’ve made it easy for me since my favorite stories are the same), and I’m reading it as a classic instead of my primary fiction/fantasy. So far I’m pretty invested and curious about this epic that forms the foundation of many a modern yarn.

I’m just happy I’m almost done. The biggest issue with this story I think is it has too many villains without enough story for all of them. I know the author is trying to show how desperate the situation is by having so many antagonists at every front to assail the titular character, but they all kind of get lost in the pages. There was an integral reveal in one of the flashback chapters that ties the current events together, but be that as it may, I probably won’t be continuing this series.

I was going to post pictures of my new little fuzzkin Princess Garnet, but it took me much longer than I thought to get this status post completed. If you want to see her, there are pictures on both my Instagram (thequeenofsevens) and my Twitter (@ash1rose), so feel free to check them out! Spoiler: she’s adorable :3

14 thoughts on “The State of the Reader: 3/14/18”

Aww, what a gorgeous cat! ❤ She looks like she has a sweet disposition too, though maybe that's me fangirling over the cute.

Dune was a challenge for me to get through, I won't lie. But the depth of the worldbuilding is really impressive, as is the creativity of the ideas. I can definitely see how it inspired, and continues to inspire, a lot of SciFi.

She is a little sweetheart! She’s independent, but if you pick her up, she’ll snuggle against your neck and purr. Of course she loves my husband more than me, and she’s a bit jumpy around quick movements and flappy gestures, but she could just be getting used to things. She’s VERY observant and looks at everything, as opposed to Cid who constantly leaps before he looks 😀

I’ve gotten further than I did before! Reading it as a classic has helped immensely, because it’s not the only fiction/fantasy/sci-fi I’m reading. I’ve heard how much it informed Star Wars and GRRM, so I’m going to persevere!

I schedule them on my to do list lol. I have a bunch on my Kindle and those I read on my lunch break. I was reading seven books at a time for last year, but I cut that down significantly. Now I just read three or four, and I schedule the out, reading a chapter or so a day depending on how long each one is 🙂